Summertime Romance
by ShikaIno Always and Forever
Summary: The whole Naruto gang have a beachhouse for the summer and head to the beach. Tenten and Neji, though, go to an island on the gang's kayak. What happens when they get stuck there? Pairings:NejiXTen ShikaXIno VERY little SasuXSaku KibaXHina
1. Beachtime!

**A/N: **Heyy! Okay. Here's a story on Neji X Tenten now. Shika X Ino and Neji X Tenten are my all-time favorite couples. I love writing stories about them! So, here's a story to one of the best couples ever!

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful summer day and also a perfect beach day. The beachhouse the senseis rented for themselves and their teams was in full use since summer was there. Everyone was fumbling around, gathering their gear for the beach. Neji sat on the couch as the others did so.

"_Why are they getting so excited to go to the beach? There's nothing special about it." _He looked over at his two teammates who were putting a bag together with all their stuff. Tenten stuffed two towels into the bag.

"Okay," Tenten said as she stood up, "I think our stuff is all set, Lee." She looked over at Neji. "And now to get Neji's stuff ready. Neji, what towel do you want to u-?"

Neji cut in before she could continue. "I'm not going, so don't pack a towel for me."

Tenten looked at him with a tilted head. "Why aren't you going? Everyone's going. It'll be fun, I promise." She smiled cheerfully, as she always did.

He just shrugged. "I just don't want to go. I don't like beaches."

Lee now spoke up. "Whaaat! Who doesn't like the beach! Everyone loves the beach! Gai-sensei and me are going in matching SPEEDOS!" As he said that, he threw off his shorts and sported his bright yellow speedo. It practically blinded anyone who looked at him. Tenten had a disturbed face on and just looked in a different direction, so she didn't catch another glimpse of him in his speedo.

Neji, on the other hand, just got up and walked to the kitchen without a word. Lee said to Tenten, "Heh. He's only jealous he can't look this good in a speedo." He held a thumbs up at Tenten, but she just followed after Neji into the kitchen, completely ditching Lee.

"Neji," she called to him, "why won't you come to the beach with us? All the other teams are going together. Even Gaara is going, and you know how much he hates water."

Neji just sighed. "Why do you want me to go so bad?"

Tenten answered, "Well...because you're my teammate. I don't want you to be left out." She looked at him with a sly smile. "Do you not want to go...because you can't SWIM or something?"

Neji quickly looked at her with an almost insulted look. "Of course I can swim, Tenten. What do you take me for? Geez."

"Uh...sorry. But if you really don't want to go, then I can't force you." She turned towards the door entering back into the living room, but just looked back at him and said one last statement. "I just thought it would be fun to spend time with you away from training...that's all." And after saying that, she went back into the living room, to continue gathering her stuff together.

Neji watched her as she left the room. _"She really wants to spend time with me that bad? ...hm..." _He continued thinking to himself until Shikamaru walked into the kitchen with his bathing suit on. (YES! Shika IS indeed VERY muscular P). Shikamaru nodded his head when he saw Neji to sort of say hello. Shikamaru went through some of the cabinets to get some food put together for the day at the beach.

Shikamaru finally spoke, uttering his most famous line. "God. This is so troublesome. Why doesn't Ino just do this?"

Neji looked over at him. "She forced you or something?"

"Yeah...as usual. Ugh." He continued rummaging for some plastic containers to put the food in.

"...you're dating her, aren't you?"

"Mm-hm. Why?"

"Uh...no reason. I was just wondering."

"...I see." After that, they kept quiet for a few more minutes. Then, Shika turned to look at Neji. "You going to the beach?"

"Nah. I don't think so."

"Why not?" Shikamaru stuffed all the food into a good-sized bag and now just waited to hear Neji's answer.

"I don't like the beach."

"Who doesn't like the beach?"

Neji was getting a bit annoyed at this point, since everyone seemed to keep saying that to him today. "I just...don't. That's all."

Shikamaru gave him a glance from the corners of his eyes. "Tenten's going, isn't she?"

"Um...yeah. What of it?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I was just thinking that you'd go if she goes. You two seem to go wherever the other goes a lot." Shikamaru paused when he saw a weird look from Neji. "What? Is something wrong with that? ...Whatever. It must be something I only see."

Ino and Sakura walked in right as he said that. Ino spoke first. "Are you kidding? EVERYONE notices that."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. For once, I agree with Ino."

Neji put his glass of water down on the counter and looked at the three of them. "Just to get you off my back, I'll go."

"Huh? Go where?" Sakura said in a confused tone.

"To the beach. I'll go to the beach..." He began mumbling. "As much as I hate it."

"Yeah? Awesome. That'll make Tenten very happy." Ino said with a sly smile on her face.

Neji looked at her. "Huh?"

"Nooothing. Anyways, let's get going Shik-" Before Ino could finish her sentence she looked at Shikamaru, who is in his bathing suit, as said earlier. She then had a satisfied look on her face. "Hm. Shikamaru. I think me and you should go on ahead before the others...JUST the two of us." She walked up to him and grabbed his hands.

Sakura had a disgusted face on. "Okay, EW! I'm out of her! I don't want to see something that includes you two being romantic. Can you say gross-much?"

Shikamaru just ignored Sakura and put his arm around Ino as he held the bag of food in the other. "C'mon, Ino. Let's go." As they walked out of the room, they sort of pushed Sakura out of the way.

Sakura just sneered and walked off as well, probably going to find Sasuke. Neji walked out last, trying to find Lee and Tenten. Everyone else was exiting the beachhouse, heading towards the beach. He thought to himself, "_Did Tenten already go?"_ Then, he felt a pat on his back and he looked back to see two chocolate eyes looking up at him. "Tenten? You didn't leave yet?"

"Nope," she answered, "I was just in back getting my beach chair. So...still not coming?" She said with a disappointed smile.

He looked up at the ceilng, trying to think of his final answer. Then...he said it. "No. I'll go."

She looked a bit surprised. "Really? Why the change of heart?"

"Well...I didn't want to...upset you...or anything..." He shakily said that, which was very unlike the Hyuuga prodigy.

Tenten blinked a few times before answering, trying to think whether he really said that or if it was just her imagination. "Oh." She was a bit surprised that Neji actually considered her feelings about the matter. "Well...thank you.." She blushed a little and then looked him up and down.

Neji looked a bit uncomfortable. "Um...Tenten, what are you doing?"

"You need to get your bathing suit on. You have one, don't you?"

"Oh. Yeah. I'll go get that on." Then he looked at her. "Where's yours?"

"Mine's underneathe my tanktop and shorts. So...hurry up, Neji. Everyone's heading down to the beach now. We'll miss out on some awesome beachtime if we don't hurry up."

"Alright. I'll go get it on...Are you going on ahead or you going to wait for me?"

"Nah. I'll wait. So go on, get a move on." She went in back of him and pushed him into his room.

As Neji changed into his bathing suit, Tenten sat on the couch in the living room reading a magazine. For the little time she had to think about him, she thought about what Neji looked like in a bathing suit. _"Gai-sensei's training is tough and works the body really hard, so he's probably really..."_

Then, Neji walked out in his bathing suit, showing a very attractive body. Without realizing it, Tenten said her thoughts out loud. "...muscular."

Neji just stood there. "Huh?

"OH! Um...nothing. I didn't say anything. Heh...anyways. Ready to go?"

"Yeah. And..." He looked over at the bag she put the towels in earlier with. "...I guess this time you can pack ME a towel."

She smiled. "Actually, I already packed one for you before. I KNEW you'd cave in."

"Hm." He grinned a little. "You act like you know how to control me or something."

"Well, I basically do." She stuck out her tongue at him. "Now, let's go. We're late and missing some good sun." She placed sunglasses on top of her head and pulled her bag over her shoulder. She stepped out the door and waited for Neji. The beach wasn't far from their beachhouse, so it didn't take long for them to reach it. They looked at the beach and admired its beauty. They spotted the area where all their friends were setting up their chairs and beach towels and walked over to them, awaiting a great day at the beach.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Heading to the Island

**A/N: **Alright. Here's chapter 2. It's the first chapter where they're actually at the beach. Let's see what's in store for them X3

Chapter 2

Neji and Tenten joined the others near the area they set their beach stuff up at. Most of the boys were running towards the water, getting prepared to jump in. (**A/N: **Shikamaru wasn't running, though. It's just too troublesome P) Tenten put down her bag and stretched. "Mm...beautiful day out, huh?"

Neji looked up at the sky. "Huh. Yeah. It is pretty nice out." He then turned his glance towards Tenten. "Are you going swimming?"

"Nahh. I think I'm going to go to this cove some of the others told me about."

"There's a cove around here?" He looked slightly interested.

"Mm-hm." She nodded cheerfully. Then an idea hit her. "Hey! Why don't you come with me?"

"Hmm...well, I guess that'd be fine. Sure, I'll go."

"Awesome. Hey, Ino. You guys brought down the kayak, right?"

Ino was lying on a beach towel, rubbing sun tan lotion on her skin. "Wha-? Oh, yeah! Shikamaru and Choji hauled it down here. It's over there." She pointed to a two-seat kayak lying on the sand near their beach gear.

Neji looked confused. "Uhh...why are you asking about a kayak, Tenten?"

Tenten looked back at him. "Well, the cove IS on that island over there. Pft, it's not like we're going to swim there. Haha."

"But...I thought it was walking distance. As in on this beach." He took a glance at the island Tenten pointed out. "That has to be at least a 2 mile kayaking distance."

Tenten grinned. "Don't tell me you're the next Shikamaru. You're too lazy to kayak that far?"

Neji shook his head calmly. "No. I didn't say that. But if you mentioned the fact that it was on that island BEFORE I agreed to this, then I wouldn't be so confused." He kept a stern face on.

"So...you're saying you're not coming with me then?" She frowned and took one of the oars into her hands.

He sighed. "Stop putting words in my mouth, would you? I didn't say that either." He went and grabbed one of the oars as well. "Ready to go?"

She smiled widely. "Yep! I'm ready!" He grabbed the front of the kayak, and Tenten grabbed the back. Before they started dragging it down to the shoreline, Ino said, "Behave, you two! Don't stay on that island TOO long, alright? We want you back at least by lunchtime! Haha!"

Neji spoke as he kept his eyes forward. "We're just going to the cove and coming back. It's not going to take long at all."

Tenten nodded. "Yeah. We'll be back before you know it. And IF for some reason, that we're a little late, save some lunch for us, okay? Don't let Choji get to it."

Ino laughed. "Alright, alright! Haha! Just get going, you two. Go have fun. You deserve it."

Tenten smiled, as if to say thanks. Then, Neji and Tenten lifted the kayak on each of their ends and pulled it to the shoreline. As they carried it down, some of the other boys ran up and all spoke loudly. Naruto first yelled, "YOU TWO ARE GOING ON THE KAYAK! I WANT TO GO ON! DON'T HOG IT!" Then Choji. "Is there a weight limit on these things? If so...um...how much? I want to use it, but if I'm too heavy, I won't go on." Then Shikamaru. "You're seriously kayaking all the way out there? ...god, how troublesome." Then Lee. "You two are DITCHING me! I want to go too!"

Tenten finally broke into the boys' rambling. "Sorry, Lee. This kayak's a two seater. You'll have to wait your turn." Lee pouted and crossed his arms.

Finally, the two of them reached the shoreline and set the kayak down onto the water. Neji still held onto it a little so it wouldn't float in with the waves. "Okay, Tenten, you can get in first."

"Alright. Let's see if I can do this without fall-" And with that, Tenten fell face first into the water after she slipped when trying to get into the kayak. She was almost too embarassed to amerge from the water to see Neji's reaction. But when she stayed down long enough and knew she needed air, she got up the nerve to get up. As soon as she reached the top, she looked over at Neji to see what he thought. He was actually on the kayak already.

"Heh. Here you go. Since that didn't exactly work for you, I'll help you up this way." He extended his hand to her and she looked at it as she floated there in the water, holding onto the side of the kayak.

"Th..Thanks..." She reached out her hand as well to get a hold of his. Their hands met in a tight hold, and Neji pulled her up with ease. She sat up and tried to dry herself off as much as she could, even though it was hopeless to get completely dry.

Neji placed the end of his oar into the water and looked back at Tenten, as if signalling her to put hers in as well. She quickly grabbed her oar and did as he did. And with that, they began to kayak towards the island in view.

They didn't talk too much as they went, since kayaking takes a lot out of you. Tenten sat in the back seat, sometimes taking quick glances towards Neji, who was in the seat in front of her. He was still shirtless, much to Tenten's liking. Each time he pulled the oar back, the muscles in his back tightened and then loosened when he pushed it forward again. Tenten found this continuous routine hypnotizing. After awhile, she couldn't pull her eyes off him, which resulted in her not doing her job as good. Neji noticed they started going slower, and he looked back at her over his shoulder.

"Tenten...I don't mean to be rude, but can you pick up the pace a bit? You're not really rowing anymore. You're just...sitting there."

Tenten returned to the real world as Neji said this, and this time, she put more effort in rowing. She knew weak girls angered Neji, and she didn't want to appear to be one of those girls. But then she began thinking to herself...why did she want to prove herself so much to Neji lately?

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N:** Hm. I wonder why. P Well, in the next chapter they arrive at the island. What will be in store for these two when they get to the island? Wait and see. 3


	3. Where's the cove?

**A/N:** Okay, chapter 3 is FINALLY up! Sorry it took so long, guys!!!!! But don't worry! I'm back! 

Chapter 3

The image of the island slowly, but surely, became bigger and closer. The continuous rowing made even the best of ninja have sore arms. As soon as they reached the beach, Tenten jumped out as soon as possible.

"Aw man!" She stretched her arms to loosen her muscles. "Didn't expect my muscles to be this sore. Ughh..."

Neji just stayed quiet and pulled the kayak onto the shore, far enough so it wouldn't be carried out by the water.

Tenten looked around the island and smiled proudly. "It actually didn't take too long to get here. I guess we make a good team, huh? Haha."

"You're right. I thought it would take much longer having YOU as my rowing partner." He said that with the most joking tone he could utter.

Tenten playfully and lightly punched him on the arm. Then she resumed looking around the island. "What do you say we go around the island and find that cove I was telling you about earlier?"

"Sure. Why not?" Neji looked up at the sky as Tenten went on ahead. Dark clouds seemed to be coming from the way they came from. "Er...Tenten...there's clou--" Tenten cut him off and yelled over to him.

"Neji! Come on! Hurry up!" And without further stalling, Tenten hurried off into the woodsy area of the island. Neji sighed and followed after her. The clouds didn't look too bad, so he just brushed it off.

About an hour passed, and Tenten and Neji were still searching for this "cove." The worst part was that they were deep into the woods, and they weren't sure where they were.

Tenten let out an annoyed sigh and sat down on a nearby stump. "Ughh...where is this cove? I could've sworn it wasn't this far in the woods."

Neji looked at her. "I'll just use my byakugen and find where it is."

"Alright. Good idea."

And with that, Neji used his byakugen and kept concentrated, trying to search where this cove is. Then, after a moment, he returned to normal. He had an almost irked expression on.

Tenten looked at him with a worried look. "What's wrong, Neji? Is it far?"

Neji shook his head and looked at the girl. "Tenten, there IS no cove."

"Whaaat?! But, Naruto told me there--"

"NARUTO told you? You actually listened to that kid? Sheesh, Tenten, I thought you knew better! Anyways, since there's no cove around here, I guess we can just head back." He turned and began walking back.

"Wait!" Tenten called to him. "You really want to leave so soon?! I mean, just because there's no cove...we can still stay here."

He glanced back at her. "Now why in the world would you want to do that?" He said that rather coldly and continued walking.

Tenten felt a bit hurt by that comment. It sounded as if Neji didn't even want to spend time with her. She only wanted Neji to come today so she COULD spend time with him. Slowly, she stood up from the stump and followed Neji, keeping a good distance from him so she wouldn't "annoy" him any further.

They reached the beach on the island, where they started their search for the cove. Neji searched around. "...Tenten..."

"Yes?"

"Where's the kayak?"

"..."

"...shit." They looked out at the water and saw a glimpse of the vibrant yellow from the kayak, but strong waves were collapsing onto it, causing the already cheap kayak into a piece of rubbish.

Tenten put a hand to her forehead and thought to herself, "_This is just great. And if Neji wasn't annoyed enough before..."_

Neji just exhaled sharply and went over to some piles of wood. "Well, get over here."

"What...are you talking about?"

"Since that kayak's gone, we have to make a new one. We can use your weapons to help build one."

"Um...Neji."

"What is it now?"

"...my scrolls were in that kayak...that went out to sea...I can't summon any weapons without them. I mean, I have more at home, but...that really doesn't help."

Neji grumbled under his breath a bit. "I guess that means we'll have to make it the old fashioned way then."

"...yeah. Huh?" Tenten felt a raindrop fall upon the tip of her nose. She put a cupped hand up, seeing if more was coming. As seconds went on, more and more raindrops began falling. "Rain? ...this isn't good."

Neji looked over at Tenten. "Tenten, quit stalling. We need to start making this kayak."

"Neji, it's beginning to rain. And..." She looked up at the sky, which was filled with blackish-grey clouds. "...it looks like a really bad storm is coming."

Neji then recalled seeing some clouds from before. "...great. Then, the kayak will have to wait. Tenten, we have to make shelter until this storm passes."

"Right."

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N:** Oh nooo! A storm is coming! Shelter needs to be made! Will a storm bring a shaky relationship between Tenten and Neji closer? ;) We'll see! Chapter 4 is coming soon!


	4. Building shelter together

Chapter 4

Neji and Tenten quickly gathered pieces of wood and other materials from the island they could use for the shelter they were to build. As time went on, they got enough, so they began making the shelter. Tenten worked on one side as Neji worked on the other. Suddenly, a rumbling noise caused by thunder cracked loudly, and Tenten jumped from surprise, causing some of her side to fall over.

Neji yelled over to her. "Tenten, if you're going to keep making mistakes, then just let me take care of it!" Tenten shook her head. She hated being looked at as weak. Especially to Neji. All she wanted to do was prove herself to him, but lately, he just seems to look down at her.

She picked up the side that fell down and supported it up again, so it was sure not to fall again. As she continued building, she thought over things about Neji. Before this day, she was sure that Neji had SOME sort of feelings for her, but after coming to the island, he just seemed annoyed and angered by her being around. The storm picked up quickly, but Neji and Tenten finally finished shelter. Tenten went in first, and Neji followed. They sat side by side as the thunder rumbled outside and the rain fell onto the shelter, giving off a somewhat relaxing sound. Besides the sound from the rainfall, all that was heard was each of them breathing. No light was able to enter the shelter they built, so they couldn't even see each other.

The silence between the two of them was killing Tenten, so she decided to try to speak up. "N-Neji...? What do you think we should do now? Even when the storm clears down, we'll still have no kayak to use to get back to the shore."

Neji exhaled sharply, giving off a sign of annoyance. "I've already thought that over. The option I thought we could use was using chakra in our feet to quickly get back to shore. But, it's a long ways back, so our chakra wouldn't be able to last. So, that idea wouldn't work. But it's nothing to worry about. The others are probably going to come and get us."

(Meanwhile...at the beachhouse...)

Naruto jumped up and down on the couch. "Hey, guys! Is it just me or is something missing?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "No...nothing's missing. Now, shut up and get off the couch."

(Back at the island...)

Tenten smiled, reassured. "Yeah, you're right, Neji." Then, silence overcame them once again. Tenten took this oppurtunity to think over thinks between her and Neji again. For the longest time, she has had a crush on Neji, and she never knew how to express those feelings. Tenten always found going on missions or training with him was enough, but lately she wanted to see how he felt for her. She grew tired, though, and she slowly closed her eyes to the sound of their shallow breathing...

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N: **Hmmm...hopefully things will go smoother for these two. XD Keep reading pleaseeee! 3

333


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